Taleb highlights fragility of complex world

By its very nature the next “black swan” to strike will be entirely unpredictable, but [Nassim Nicholas] Taleb offered some advice on how to survive and thrive after the resulting disorder with the concept of “antifragility”. He was speaking to more than 200 delegates at the Bermuda International Long-Term Insurers and Reinsurers (Biltir) Conference at the Fairmont Southampton hotel. … Taleb, distinguished professor of risk engineering at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering, made his point by comparing a cat and a washing machine, a concept featured in his latest book Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder.